The Model Museum

About

The Model Museum

In 1999, the Architect Selection Committee of the Davenport Museum of Art chose Sir David Chipperfield, a rising star in the world of architecture, from among six firms competing for the call to design a new museum on the Davenport riverfront. Six years later, the new museum opened to the public and received international praise for its clean, classical lines, its unusual green glass exterior, and its soaring interior spaces.

Starting from quick sketches, the architect worked to incorporate his response to the site, his vision of interior spaces and exterior masses and the museum’s functional needs into a unified, buildable project. This creative process, and the many changes made in the course of reaching the final design, will be explored through an exhibition of drawings, photographs and original models on display in the Lewis Gallery. The exhibition is organized with the assistance of students in the Western Illinois University Exhibitions Class taught by Pamela White, Ph.D.

Sir David Chipperfield, sketch from 1999 August notebook of initial ideas for Figge Art Museum.